Gary knelt between the bodies, his heart pounding in dread. He hadn’t taken the time to examine them closely; he didn’t dare in the sun or with the captain watching. Please God he hadn’t failed them, he hadn’t been too late. Gregori had lost so much blood. What would happen to him? Why hadn’t he asked the couple more questions while he had the opportunity? He dropped his face into his hands and prayed.
“They are good friends of yours?” Beau ventured compassionately.
“Very good friends. Like family. Gregori saved my life on more than one occasion,” Gary answered carefully, not wanting to reveal too much.
“I have such a friend. He is like this one. He had a place not too far from here that he often stayed in when we’d spent too much time in the swamp. He didn’t like the sun either. I’ll take you there. Gregori and Savannah know him. I don’t think Julian would mind.”
The boat began to pick up speed now that they were out of the root-choked channel and into the clear water. “Thank you,” Gary said gratefully.
Beau LaRue knew the bayou like his own backyard. He took the boat to the top safe speed and found every shortcut he could think of. When they approached land, it was a small island with a single hunting cabin on it. The cypress trees were thick, nearly impenetrable. “The ground is very firm here in the center of the island. It doesn’t look so, but there is a trail of stepping stones leading through the mire. We can take them to Julian’s secret place. He owns this piece of land, and it’s always undisturbed. He isn’t a man one wants to trifle with.”
They took Gregori first because Beau had to lead the way. He picked his way carefully, every step placed on a round stone in the muck. It was difficult going with Gregori so big, his body a dead weight. Beau could not discern the rise and fall of the man’s chest, but he refrained from saying so. It seemed insane to him to take someone so mortally wounded to a dark, damp cavern, but he had seen Julian go to this place on more than one occasion when the sun was rising to its peak.
The cave they approached was man-made and very small. There was almost no room to stand. They laid Gregori’s body full length on the dirt floor in the darkness and retreated quickly, Gary anxious to get Savannah out of the light. He lifted Savannah into his arms and faced the captain. “Thanks for your help. I’ll attend to these two. Leave my bags right here on the stones. I’ll see to Savannah and come back for them.”
“You want me to stay?” Beau asked, torn between curiosity and his ingrained belief in privacy. Gary shook his head, already moving across the stones.
Beau cast off, started the engine. “I’ll check to see if you need me later tonight.”
“Thanks,” Gary called over his shoulder, hurrying to get Savannah’s body out of the sun.
He sank down beside the two still bodies, breathing hard, worried that they might truly be dead. He was even afraid to bathe Gregori’s fearsome wounds, not certain what harm it might do. He passed the time playing solitaire, drinking from his canteen, and going back and forth between being certain they were dead and sure they would rise with the setting of the sun.
Out across the bayou the sky finally became a smoky gray. Gary crawled to the entrance to the cave and stared out at the gathering night. It couldn’t happen too fast to suit him. When he turned his head, he saw the rise and fall of Gregori’s chest beneath the blanket.
Gregori felt hunger first, then pain. He blocked them both and assessed the damage done to his body. He had lost a good amount of blood, but Savannah had replenished him. It took a short time to focus, to go inside himself and heal the gaping wounds. Even with what Savannah had given him, he was in desperate need of blood. Only after he had closed the lacerations so that there was no further blood loss, he stirred, then sat up. He could hear a heart beating close by, the ebb and flow of life rushing hotly, calling to him so that his fangs began to lengthen in his need.
His mind automatically reached for Savannah. She had saved him. He was getting used to her pulling him back from tight spots. There was no lack of courage in Savannah. He found her life-light huddled in a small corner of his mind. She had brought herself to the brink of death in order to give him life. Swearing, he pushed the blanket from his body and shoved hers aside. He gathered her close and examined every inch of her.
The loud, insistent beat of the heart so close to them, so filled with the rush of life, drew his attention. Slowly Gregori turned his head to see Gary watching him from the entrance to the cave. He had known he was there, knew it was Gary who had taken them from the swamp and found them a dark, safe place to sleep.
“I owe you much,” Gregori greeted the human softly. Hunger gnawed again, and he could feel his incisors sharpen in response. His lifemate needed sustenance immediately. “Stay with her while I hunt.”
Gary took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “You can use my blood. I knew you would wake hungry.”
The hard edge to Gregori’s mouth softened momentarily. “I do not merely hunger, my friend. I need. Savannah needs. I can be dangerous in this state. I would never risk your life.”
“I trust you, Gregori,” Gary said truthfully, surprised that it was so.
Gregori moved around him. “You are a rare man, Gary Jansen. I feel privileged to know you, to count you as a friend. Please take care of my lifemate while I hunt.”
Gregori was already pushing past Gary, a mere brush as he went by, but the contact sent a shiver down Gary’s spine. Gregori smelled wild and dangerous, a merciless, predatory animal. Gary didn’t know how he knew the difference, but at that moment Gregori was more beast than man. It was only after Gregori was gone, shape-shifting before his eyes into a bird of prey, that Gary realized that the terrible wounds in the Carpathian’s body were healed. He watched the raptor rise on the wind until it became a mere speck in the sky.
Gary scrambled across the dirt floor, hunching over to avoid scraping his head on the roof. He sat beside Savannah and waited. It didn’t take very long before the bird returned. Gary couldn’t take his eyes off the shimmering, iridescent feathers shifting into a solid rock of a man.
Gregori glided through the cypress trees, tall, fit, healthy. Even his clothes were immaculate. His hair was shining clean, tied at his nape with a leather thong. His silver eyes were clear, and once more his face was a mask of sensual beauty. “Gary”—the voice, as always, was purity and strength—”please leave us for a few moments.”
“Will she be all right?” Gary asked fearfully. In spite of himself, he had checked her pulse several times. “She must be all right,” Gregori said very softly.
The voice was like velvet, but there was something in it that sent a shiver of apprehension through Gary. If anything happened to Savannah, Gary realized that no one, nothing in the world, would ever be safe again from the Carpathian. He hadn’t considered that before, and he had no idea where the knowledge came from, but he knew it absolutely. He crawled from the cramped space and picked his way a small distance from the cave. The night noises bothered him, were strange and a bit daunting.
Gregori gathered Savannah tenderly into his arms.
Come to me, my life and breath. Wake and be with me.
He gave the command, and even as he felt her heart flutter, he pressed her mouth to his throat.
Feed
,
ma
petite.
Feed and replenish what you selflessly gave to me.
Savannah turned her head, her first breath a sigh of warmth against his throat. She nuzzled closer, drowsy and weak from lack of blood. Her tongue tasted his skin, caressed his pulse. Gregori’s body tightened alarmingly as her teeth sent white-hot pleasure slicing through him. Slowly her skin warmed, went from ashen to a healthy glow. Her arms slipped around his neck, and she held him close, her body fitting into his, a restless ache of need and hunger.